A Tale of the Ages
by icy the witch
Summary: Everyone knew that Sesshomaru was a coldhearted demon as far as humans were concerned. So why, when Keira Higurashi goes to him looking for help, does he accept one of her daughters as his servant, to keep the family alive?


A Tale of the Ages

A/N: This is an Alternate Universe...of course. I haven't been doing much else of late. I'm even planning, (which I told myself I wasn't going to, but oh well) a series of horror drabbles involving the whole crew. Anyway, this one's set in the feudal era! Yay! Good, fun. Anyway here it is. Ps. I have a horrendous inability to come up with good titles! Ack! So this title is also subject to change. IF ANYONE HAS ANY GOOD IDEAS, DON"T HESITATE TO TELL ME! I WON'T BE OFFENDED! If you're confused by anything, then, well, ask about it in your review. If it's something that won't be later explained in the story, then I will gladly answer it! I used to have an author's note, that had all the explanations, but it got lost somehow and I'm too lazy to write it all down again.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha

**Chapter One **

**The Plea**

Kagome steeled herself and leaned her weight backwards, tumbling to the ground with a squeak as the rope came up more easily than expected. Glancing up to check that the bucket had made it safely to the top, she sighed and collapsed on the soft grass, reveling in the brief respite.

The moment was broken when her stomach growled painfully, reminding her of the scant breakfast she'd had that morning. It couldn't be helped, since the food in their storehouses was almost gone, and they had no money to buy more. Kagome didn't know what they were going to do when that ran out.

She looked up as a shadow fell across her face to see Kikyo hovering over her nervously. The sun was directly behind her, and its glow painted a golden aura around the older girl. "Mother's left," she worried her lip.

Kagome sat up and looked at her twin sister in concern. Kikyo was a calm, unflappable one; like their mother. She never got nervous. "Where did she go?"

Kikyo shook her head, averting her gaze. "I don't know." She seemed to collect herselg then, and when she turned back to Kagome her eyes had their usual steely, commanding glint. "Did you finish your chores?"

Kagome nodded. "I just have to bring in the water, then I'm done." She stood up and went to get the pail, but Kikyo caught her arm.

"Forget it," there was a strange note in her sister's voice, causing Kagome to look at her in concern. Kikyo took the bucket herself, and when she next spoke, her voice was normal again. "I mean, you look tired. Why don't you go inside and play with Kaede?" She turned away, dismissing Kagome.

Kagome hesitated, then shrugged and walked into their little cabin. The main room had a large bed and stove in it and was rarely used now. In the back, a smaller room was reserved for the children. Souta sat at a small desk their father had made him before he died, reading a book. Kaede played happily with her two wooden dolls on the floor. Kagome smiled in greeting and sat down beside Kaede. "Can I play?" She asked.

"You're not supposed to do that; it's unladylike," Souta protested on Kagome's four-legged position on the floor.

Kagome pouted childishly at him. "Aww, come on, Souta. I used to play horsy with you all the time."

Kaede's face lit up at the mention of the game and she crawled toward Kagome, squealing. "Horsey! Horsey!"

Souta just returned to his book, frowning disapprovingly. "I was just little then. I'm the man of the house now." He hastened to smother his cough with his hand, setting the book down.

"Oh, you're the _man_," Kagome laughed weakly, her eyes filled with concern as Kaede climbed on her back, giggling. "Of course, Souta."

Keira clasped her hands nervously in the folds of her skirt as she followed the stern toad demon. She bit her lip and glanced back the way she had come, fighting the desire to turn and run. She'd heard the stories about the man who resided here: that he was a cold-hearted demon who hated humans, unless they were cleaning his castle. Not many people were desperate enough to work for him, and his last servant had died just a week ago. Before, Keira had dismissed the tales as exaggerated, thinking him just a miser who preferred his own company. The appearance of a toad demon spoke volumes, however, and suddenly she wasn't so sure of their plan.

The toad wasn't going to even bring her to the tower at first. She'd had to stay two hours, insisting that she wouldn't leave him alone until he complied. She wondered why he hadn't just gotten rid of her. Surely a demon would have no qualms about that.

They stopped in a small waiting room built of Sakura wood so polished Keira wanted to run her hands across it. She didn't, though, wary of offending her hosts. The demon pulled open a door on the far wall. The bone-white handle he grasped had been carved into the shape of a snarling dog, its furious eyes seeming to glow with an inner, unholy light. The toad took no notice of the ominous carving, and slipped into the room beyond with his usual scowl. The door clicked closed behind him. Keira was alone.

She tried not to look at the handle, though she could feel the eyes glaring at her hatefully, accusing her of trespassing in its dark world. A world humans had no place in. It took all her will not to turn and run. Only the thought of how sickly Souta had gotten and the painful emptiness of her own stomach kep her rooted to the spot. She looked up with a start at the sound of the door opening.

"You may come in now, ningen." Jaken informed her, moving aside so she could move past him. Keira hesitated as she approached the door, annoying Jaken. "He does not have all day, ningen! Either you go in or you don't!"

Keira lurched forward as if pushed, hurrying into a brightly lit, den-like room. The only furniture was a deep-brown pelt that looked thick enough to sit on, beside a cheerful fire that mocked her fright.

Standing before a large bay window was a man, or what appeared to be a man (despite his elfin features), with long silver hair that seemed to float down his back. HE would have looked like an angel if not for the hellish, crimson glow the sunset shot through his hair and face. The demon know as "Killing Perfection" turned, and Keira dropped to her knees and studied the floor.

"What do you want, ningen?" He asked, not impatiently like the toad, not even disdainfully, but without any emotion at all. Keira thought she preferred the toad.

Keira glanced up timidly at the sound of that melodious and emotionless voice. The cold, golden eyes trained on her were beautiful, much more so than his admittedly handsome face. There was something in those eyes, though, that terrified her, and she quickly averted her eyes.

"Please, my lord...I'd heard that there was a position open for a servant. I was hoping you would accept my daughter as a replacement."

The youkai moved to the pelt and sat down. Keira wished he would break the thick silence. The demon's aura was dark, and utterly inhuman, but it held no malice, no bloodlust. She wondered at this demon who was so different and so much more terrible than the others.

"So," his smooth, cold voice sent shivers down her spine. "You would sell your daughter to keep yourself fed? Such praticality. Shoud I applaud you?" His eyes were mocking, and a slight smile graced his lips, a smile devoid of any real warmth. Keira found herself growing angry.

"I would work for you myself, but my injury would not allow me to do it efficiently."

"Ah, so you are concerned for my house. I thank you for your concern." The mocking glint never left his eyes, and the fleating courage her anger had given her drained away, and she returned to looking at the floor.

"Please, my lord..." Keira risked another glance into those cold, pitiless, beautiful eyes, and gave up. "Very well. I won't bother you any longer." She climbed slowly to her feet and bowed deeply to the silent youkai. Brushing the wrinkles from her kimono, she turned to the exit. The demon's amber eyes were burned into her mind, sneering at her for even considering that he might help her.

"I will pick her up in the morning, ningen. Have her ready."

Keira stopped in her tracks and turned to stare at the youkai lord. He was back at the window. She hadn't even seen him move. Following his gaze, she saw a Sakura tree just beginning to bud, huge even from this distance. At the foot of the huge tree there was a huge, grey stone. She couldn't tell what it was, but it seemed to be the reason he had accepted her request.

"You may go now, ningen." For the first time he let a hint of impatience slip into his voice.

"Yes, my lord. Thank you, my lord." Keira bowed and scurried out, glad to be leaving. She dreaded the next morning, however, when the demon arrived to take Kikyo away. She would never see her daughter again.

Kagome looked up from the book she was reading when she heard Souta gasp from beside her, "Mother!"

Throwing one arm around Kaede to keep her from escaping, Kagome looked outside to see their mother trudging up the road. She saw Kikyo hurry up beside her from the well. Kagome hesitated, then hurried outside herself. At the last minute, she remembered to close the door. Kaede was asleep, but..."Souta, stay inside."

Souta opened his mouth to protest, but snapped it shut when she levelled an uncharacteristically stern look at him. She slid the door the rest of the way shut and ran out to where Kikyo and her mother talked quietly by the gate.

"Well, mother? Did he agree?" Kikyo was looking at her mother anxiously.

Keira stared hard at the ground and nodded silently. Kikyo's smile seemed strained, but she lay one hand comfortingly on her mother's shoulder. "That's...wonderful--"

"Who has agreed to what?" Kagome butted in, causing the pair's heads to snap up to look at her. They had been too wrapped up in the conversation to notice her approach.

"Kagome, go inside." Keira ordered her distractedly.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Kagome insisted.

"Kagome, listen to you mother and go inside," Kikyo cried.

Kagome folded her arms, blue-grey eyes flashing in defiance. She looked at her mother feeling a twinge of guilt at the disrespect she was showing, but she didn't back down.

Keira sighed, her small shoulders dropping. She seemed to withdraw into herself, turning away from her two daughters. Kagome had never seen her mother so defeated in her life, and it scared her.

"Lord Sesshomaru...has agreed to take Kikyo as his servant. He comes for her in the morning." Keira whispered.

Kagome stepped back as if slapped, eyes filled with horror. She stared at her mother as if she didn't recognize her. "No! Mother! He's a demon, a tyrant! He'll work her to the bone!"

"I am aware that the work is hard, Kagome." Kikyo said softly, placing a hand on her arm. "Please don't shout, you'll wake the children."

"I don't care," Kagome muttered angrily, but lowered her voice. "Mother...we'll never see her again."

Keira let out a sob, and threw her arms around her two daughters, hugging them as she'd done when they'd fought as children. "I know, honey, I know. But what else can I do? If she works for him, he'll support us as he did the family of his last servant. At the very least, it will get us back on our feet."

"But--" kagome broke off and looked down when Kikyo interrupted her.

"Please, Kagome. I agreed to this." Kikyo's eyes were devoid of emotion. "Now, go back inside, Kagome."

"But what about your dream of becoming a priestess?" Kagome refused to give up. "You were going to start your training next year! It took you so long to find a priest that would take one so young."

_"But, Mother, if I do this...I'll never become a priestess!"_

"To abandon my family for the sake of myself would be selfish and would make me unworthy of becoming a priestess." Kikyo said flatly. She glanced at the house. "I hear Kaede crying. You should go to her."

Kagome almost hated Kaede at that moment, for there was no denying the child's wail. She bowed to her mother and hurried into the cottage.

Sliding the door closed, she glared at Kaede but, remembering that she was only little, kept her voice calm and soothing. "What is it, Kaede?"

"I had a b-bad dream," Kaede sobbed, toddling over to Kagome.

Kagome's eyes softened and she pulled Kaede into a hug, rocking her until her sobs quieted. "Shh. It was only a nightmare. Whatever it was, it can't get you now."

Kaede sniffled, and her eyes drooped. At Kagome's words, though, they came open again. "Not me," she yawned. "Big demon...after...you..."

Kagome smiled reassuringly and contined rocking her slowly. "It's okay. It can't get me now."

Kaede's breathing evened out, and finally Kagome was sure she was asleep. She carefully tucked the toddler into the nest of blankets, that served as their bed. Calling for Souta, telling him that it was time to sleep, she snuggled down between her two siblings, and tried to forget the troubles racing through her mind.

As she finally drifted of, she never gave the jumbled, sleepy words of a four year old child a second thought.


End file.
